When the devil becomes the judge

Field Marshall Prince Yormie Johnson now Senator for Nimba County has got nothing absolutely to defend for summary executions he carried out on his disbanded INPFL rebels base in the Caldwell Township, Montserrado County during the heat of the civil war here in 1990.

The only crime those armless citizens committed for which they were murdered in cold blood in their dozens, most of them hungry and helpless was that they went on the murderers’ camp dubbed as a base in search of food and security, which the Doe regime could no longer provide.

Those fellow Liberians like the hundreds of thousands others that were gunned down in various massacres committed by rival warring factions across the country, including the Doe regime, became victims of the situation, like the late South African reggae star Lucky ‘Tamba’ Dube recorded in one of his many songs. Their fate was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

When the devil ascribes to himself the power to judge and condemn to death, then hell breaks loose because nobody is there to defend the innocent. Such were the plights of our fellow citizens murdered by PYJ and his INPFL rebels.

Through the barrel of the gun they presided over jungle justice, taking the lives of people who had ran to them for protection as Monrovia became no man’s land. The blood of those fallen souls yearn for real justice which they never had except for General Johnson’s style of justice.

Reflecting on those sad days in the history of the country when some group went to honor him in his office at the Capitol Building in Monrovia on Tuesday, 28 March he argued that those who survived under his carnage and are still alive should be grateful to him and stop branding him as warmonger.

And that is the characteristic of the devil. It never wants to be identified by its true identity rather, it wants to be accepted by its face value, with no trace of its past. But history has a way of reminding all of us of our past activities whether good or bad, which we can never run away from.

Today, after a transitional justice system characterized by truth and reconciliation in place of retribution, the once dreaded rebel general is wearing the face of an angle with the Holy Bible in his hands reminding people of their sins and God’s judgement that awaits them if they don’t repent.
However, he refuses to seek mercy and forgiveness both to God and his fellow compatriots for the wickedness committed by unilaterally taking the lives of defenseless people, and is instead, bent on justifying his actions.

This is the real nature of man, a political being, heavily under the influence of the devil. He only sees the spike in the eyes of others, ignoring his own. As far as he is concerned, he’s above reproach, but quick to judge others and bring them to condemnation.

The general needs to demonstrate remorse first before the Creator, God Almighty and to fellow Liberians for the atrocities he committed during his so-called freedom battle that yielded nothing but deaths and destruction, which Liberia is yet to fully recover from rather than knocking his chest and presenting himself as a messiah when the only one and true Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life on the Cross to save mankind. If only our compatriots were tasty for justice like most of us are men of his kind whom be seated in high places to justify his barbaric acts against mankind.